With a Greek thespian such as highly talented Irene Papas ,playing the part of an ex-dancer called "Jocasta ",and a young boy working in her companion's ranch,I was waiting for an Oedipian western,and it is ,in a way ,as "Jo" is like a mother to Steve,writing letters for his mom,and urging him to leave this place before he becomes like "them"...And of course ,the boy falls for her...But the movie avoids metaphysical pretensions and focuses on the way events,Jo and Jeremy (James Cagney) make a man of him -that's what the young lad says in the first minutes-.Superbly filmed with splendid colors and a good use of the wide screen ,the plot revolves around Jeremy and his horses.Jeremy is an ambiguous character (check the title which is thoroughly appropriate: does a "bad" man deserve a tribute?) Rodock can be very cruel ,a cruelty which culminates in a scene where he forces the thieves to walk some miles on a rocky trail without their boots.But he shows in the last scenes that he longs to be loved too.Hats off to Robert Wise,a director who could excel in westerns ,Musicals ("West Side Story") ,horror movies ("the haunting" (1963!) is better than any horror movie I can think of) ,sci-fi ("the day the earth stood still") ,films noirs ("the set up" " odds against tomorrow " )and made the best movie dealing with death row ("I want to live" )!

I don't agree with the title because Cagney is not a bad man at all. He is just a man that in order to manage his business of breeding horses has to take the law in his own hands where there was no law at all. This western probably did not get the box office results it deserved because James Cagney and Irene Papas are not the actors you would expect in this genre. But Cagney has a superb performance in what is above all a love story, where he is a man with a hard character which becomes more human with the influence of his mistress, Irene Papas and Steve Millar(Don Dubbins, the narrator of the story.), who works for him. Irene Papas's acting reminded me a lot of Katy Jurado. Cagney and Papas are very similar to the couple played by Tracy and Jurado in Broken Lance. The efficient direction of Robert Wise, and the two main actors make this an above average film.

A tough and self-reliant rancher and landowner called Jeremy Roderick (James Cagney , though Spencer Tracy was cast as but was replaced , he complained and procrastinated about working on that location because of the altitude of working in the Rockies) will fight against anybody that attempt to rob his possessions . He's loved by a woman (Irene Papas) who lives in his home and hires a cowboy called Steve Miller (Don Dubbins , though Robert Francis was originally cast but he died in a plane crash) when is originated the classic triangle . The arrogant rancher will confront rustlers and he'll carry out the hanging's law (also called Lynch's law) against those . James Cagney's interpretation is outstanding , he plays magnificently as a pride and cruel proprietary , a merciless baron land . Irene Papas in her first movie is sweet and enjoyable , she demonstrates the excellent actress to result to be in the future with a career of successes that today continues . The third starring Don Dubbins is feeble , his career was a flop and barely made films after . The original cast were Spencer Tracy and Grace Kelly , however Tracy was dismissed but had complications with director Robert Wise . Grace Kelly left the picture due her marriage to Rainiero of Monaco . Support cast is astounding : Vic Morrow (who died in accident while realizing ¨twilight zone¨ by John Landis) , Stephen McNally , Royal Dano and of course the villain Lee Van Cleef , pre-Spaghetti Western . Robert Surtees' cinematography and Miklos Rozsa musical score are awesome , both of whom subsequently would make super-productions (Ben Hur , Quo Vadis, Ivanhoe...).The motion picture was well directed by Robert Wise , author of various cinema classics . He was a successful director of all kind genres such as musical as ¨West side story¨, ¨The sound of music¨ , Sci-fi as ¨The day the earth stood still¨, ¨Star Trek : the motion picture ¨, ¨The Andromeda strain¨ , Terror as ¨The body snatchers¨ , ¨ Curse of the cat people¨, ¨Audrey Rose¨ , ¨The haunting¨ , Epic or colossal as ¨Elen of Troy¨ , wartime as ¨The desert rats¨, ¨Run silent , run deep¨ , ¨Hinderburg¨ , ¨The sand pebbles¨ and Western as ¨Blood on the moon¨, and this ¨Tribute to a bad man¨.

You simply must see Vic's riveting portrayal as the young disillusioned, but still proud Lars Peterson stands up to a cruel and ruthless land baron. Vic has the pivotal role of this top-rated James Cagney western. Vic's show down with Cagney will hold you spellbound!